Friday Fives

Friday Fives

A round up of five things that have caught our eye (or ear) this past week.

1. SERVICES AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN EARLY MARKETS

Tomas Tunguz is a VC at Redpoint Ventures and his blog has been essential reading at O/TG HQ for some time now.

In his latest post, he talks about early stage markets and how to win traction in them. At the beginning of a new wave, Tomas points out that most customers don’t understand the technology or change well, and need experts to guide them. This means that companies that provide services and education often win the early market.

Tomas refers to a number of technology examples in his post, but one close to home for the O/TG team is our own experience previously with the establishment of the coworking movement in New Zealand. Services and education were key elements of an overall offer that allowed us to cement BizDojo (the first commercial coworking provider in NZ) as the market leader in the early stages of the segment’s explosive global growth, and was a key factor in its later acquisition by IWG, the world’s largest shared workspace provider.

Read the full post here: “Services and solutions vs point products”

2. CHINA’S COMPETITIVE AI GAME PLAN

China’s ambitious plan, Made in China 2025, sets out to transform its manufacturing base and lift its industries up the value chain. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to play a key role in this transformation.

The plan, which aims to replace imports with local products and build global competitors able to take on western technology, has also got embroiled in the escalating trade war between the US and China, with the 2025 plan being used as an example by the US unfair state intervention in China’s economy.

But is China’s AI industry indeed a threat to that in the US? According to an Oxford University study China is lagging behind the US in all indicators except one - access to data. China is renowned for its data collection and the sharing of the information between private companies and government.  

China’s transformation over the past 30 years - the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history - means that they can’t be underestimated as a power to watch in the AI game.

Read more here: “China has competitive AI game plan but success will need cooperation”

3. UPENDING THE WORLD WIDE WEB

This week, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, launches a new startup, Inrupt, which aims to end the dominance of Facebook, Google and Amazon and give users back control over their data.

Berners-Lee talks about his vision for Inrupt in an interview with Fast Company magazine, and its mission to decentralise the web: “The intent is world domination”. Their open source platform, Solid, has been developed using the existing web, and is guided by the principle of “personal empowerment through data”.

Read the full Fast Company article here: “Tim Berners-Lee tells us his radical new plan to upend the world wide web” and Berners-Lee’s blog post here: “One small step for the web”

4. WITHOUT FAIL: ANDREW MASON ON GROUPON

This week we’ve been listening to the latest podcast series from the folks at Gimlet Media - Without Fail. In this series Alex Blumberg interviews someone who has taken a big risk and pursued some big dreams. They share their stories and lessons on both success and failure - what worked, what didn’t, and why.

“Because success and failure, they’re not as far apart as people think. They’re always right next to each other”.

In the first episode Alex chats with Andrew Mason from Groupon and his spectacular rise and fall as CEO at what was once referred to  as the “fastest growing company in history”.

Listen to part one of the two part interview: “Groupon's Andrew Mason: Pt. 1, The Rise”

[Sidenote - we are big fans of Andrew’s next venture - Detour, which delivers immersive audio walks in cities. Check it out next time you’re in a new city, or even in your home city to see it through different eyes]

5. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MENTAL HEALTH

Next week expect to see a fair bit from us on entrepreneurship and mental wellbeing as we mark Mental Health Awareness Week here in New Zealand. The week, originating in the US and now run throughout the year in 150 countries, was established to educate and increase awareness about mental illness and reduce the stigma attached to it.

There is a reportedly higher incidence of depression in the entrepreneur and startup world, and this has been a growing topic of conversation over the past few years. The startup and entrepreneurship journey is often a rollercoaster of a ride of ups and downs which in itself can be linked to a higher incidence of depression. But, studies have also shown that the very personality and characteristics of entrepreneurs have a correlation with many of the differences associated with mental health conditions. A University of California study exploring the mental health of entrepreneurs against a control group found that self-reported mental health concerns were present across 72% of the entrepreneurs, which was significantly higher than the control group.

One well known entrepreneur leading the charge on opening up these conversations has been Venture Capitalist Brad Feld. Feld has spoken and written extensively about his struggle with depression and has been instrumental in this important conversation being openly talked about in the startup scene. Watch this interview with Feld on depression and entrepreneurship:  “Depression & Entrepreneurism: VC Brad Feld of Foundry Group”

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Thanks to the folks that suggested content this week. If you have any startup stories, new products, or other thoughts to share, please get in touch.

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